I certainly didn't mean to imply you are machines. I was just trying to see if my interpretation of her quote was correct, that it would have been better if others have reported inflammatory posts earlier.

No, I don't, since we are discouraged from calling other posters out. I was asking if it was acceptable behavior. If not, I assume the only correct response is to report it. As I said, I usually just don't post in those threads, but I do find it annoying.

Is there a character limit to the explanation box when you report a post? Last time I reported a post it wasn't because the post itself was bad but because the entire thread seemed to be going downhill but I wasn't sure how much of an explanation I could put into the box so I was very short. Now I wonder if I can get a wordier explanation in if there is a next time.

The members forget how powerful you are. Don't like the content? Post what you do like! Want to see more on-topic, etiquette-heavy discussions? Post more on-topic, etiquette-heavy discussions. Think someone is being inappropriate and detrimental to the discussion or the forum? Take the wind out of their sails by not giving them fodder to work with.

Mod involvement in a thread is invariably the result of a violation report. There is a place for comments, although not a drop-down box. A concise description of the problem, with a summary of the thread when necessary, is immensely helpful. There are lots of posters who spend way more time on the forum than any of the mods - also, there are way more of you. The report violation feature is the quickest, most efficient way of notifying us of a problem. And we rarely know about any problems other than the ones reported.

Really? Not all involvement i hope. I mean, you guys read and post just because you like it, too, right? I always figured you guys are part of the community, too, not just overseers or something. Do you get to just surf around and read and post just because you feel like it?

Logged

It's alright, man. I'm only bleeding, man. Stay hungry, stay free, and do the best you can. ~Gaslight Anthem

Is there a character limit to the explanation box when you report a post? Last time I reported a post it wasn't because the post itself was bad but because the entire thread seemed to be going downhill but I wasn't sure how much of an explanation I could put into the box so I was very short. Now I wonder if I can get a wordier explanation in if there is a next time.

I know, I don't report posts very often, but I agree that there's not much room for explanation.

There's been a few times that I was going to report something then changed my mind because I couldn't think of the best way to describe the reason I was reporting it. In those cases the posts weren't glaringly snarky, rude, or unhelpful ,so I ended up feeling foolish for thinking about flagging them.

That's why I really liked the suggestion about having a drop-down menu. It also would help the mods identify what kind of complaint they're dealing with and it might encourage the posters to be more active with reporting posts.

There's been a few times that I was going to report something then changed my mind because I couldn't think of the best way to describe the reason I was reporting it. In those cases the posts weren't glaringly snarky, rude, or unhelpful ,so I ended up feeling foolish for thinking about flagging them.

That's why I really liked the suggestion about having a drop-down menu. It also would help the mods identify what kind of complaint they're dealing with and it might encourage the posters to be more active with reporting posts.

I have had the same problem. I try to think of short ways to describe me reason and then just give up or leave something something too vague.

There's been a few times that I was going to report something then changed my mind because I couldn't think of the best way to describe the reason I was reporting it. In those cases the posts weren't glaringly snarky, rude, or unhelpful ,so I ended up feeling foolish for thinking about flagging them.

That's why I really liked the suggestion about having a drop-down menu. It also would help the mods identify what kind of complaint they're dealing with and it might encourage the posters to be more active with reporting posts.

I have had the same problem. I try to think of short ways to describe me reason and then just give up or leave something something too vague.

There have been times when I've reported something and left the comment box blank. I know it's not what mods would prefer, but there have certainly been a few times that I just could not word what I wanted to say, could not describe the issue, but I wanted it at least on SOMEONE'S radar. It's not the best way to handle it, but if you really struggle to say what you think is wrong, I still think it would be better to report with no explanation than not report at all.

There's been a few times that I was going to report something then changed my mind because I couldn't think of the best way to describe the reason I was reporting it. In those cases the posts weren't glaringly snarky, rude, or unhelpful ,so I ended up feeling foolish for thinking about flagging them.

That's why I really liked the suggestion about having a drop-down menu. It also would help the mods identify what kind of complaint they're dealing with and it might encourage the posters to be more active with reporting posts.

I have had the same problem. I try to think of short ways to describe me reason and then just give up or leave something something too vague.

There have been times when I've reported something and left the comment box blank. I know it's not what mods would prefer, but there have certainly been a few times that I just could not word what I wanted to say, could not describe the issue, but I wanted it at least on SOMEONE'S radar. It's not the best way to handle it, but if you really struggle to say what you think is wrong, I still think it would be better to report with no explanation than not report at all.

Shores, that's very interesting to me. i reported two posts this week (probably the 4th & 5th times i've reported since i've been here!), and i really struggled to figure out what to write. one felt like a personal attack on another poster, but it was more of a "tone" thing over several posts. i really didn't know how to say that!

mods who are reading, if you do get a blank report for a post, what do you do? figure the submitter hit the wrong button and disregard? go look anyway?

I get all the EhellDames points but that just isn't how I read the post in the locked thread. I suppose I was wrong It's easy to read posts wrong. For example, when I said "gets away with it", I didn't mean randomly flagging people who I dislike, I meant flagging the serially snarky who never seem to tone it down and yet, never seem to be banned.

And I wasn't being insulting about being busy. Lots of us our busy. I understand.

But I still think that people need to start flagging what they are bothered by. I honestly think I have flagged 2 posts in the entire 3 years or so I have been here, I just tend not to get bothered enough to do so. I'm still not going to flag people who disagree with me but I think I will start flagging some of the super snarky too.

LP, I think I understand where you're coming from. We're getting a lot more information on how the Dame and the Mods operate and how it impacts and is affected by their real life lives. Now, you're pointing out that a lot of us may want to reconsider how we react to things based on that information.

Like some PPs, I often walk away from a post that annoys, irritates, or upsets me because I figure if it's really bad and not just me, someone else already did it. Knowing that the Mods have their hands full figuring out which reports are serious and which ones are frivolous actually does make me feel like I should be reporting more often. While I know that this "makes work" for the Mods, I would hope that having multiple reports of the same post or poster would help them narrow things down in the long run.

I hope that if/when I feel the need to report a post, it'll be influenced by the information here. I will do my level best as a member of this community to make sure that I'm not reporting because someone made me mad, but because I really feel that someone should be looking at what they said. However, I will make more of an effort to report posts that I feel cross a line because I can't sit back and pretend that "someone else will do it". It's not their job to report something that I feel is wrong. It's mine.

Thank you LadyPekoe. The point isn't the turn of phrase you used. The point is that we need to be more proactive, and I agree with you.

I guess there are mixed messages coming out then, because I know I've seen posts in the past where mods have stated that they appreciate it when the forum does a little 'self moderating'.

I've read through to the end of this, and while I think there are some really good points made, this struck me, because I think some self regulating is important. There are many polite ways to do it, because I've done it myself. Call a statement unfair, or ask someone to tone it down.

But a big part of the problem is that there are people in here, some with massive post counts and others much newer, where I cringe every time they post. The comments aren't report-worthy, at least by my definition. But they go that extra step to toss in possible snark. Or they dive bomb threads where they haven't been participating because they caught someone missing a point in the OP and they simply must point it out. Or they toss in a one-liner question with an undercurrent of disbelief.

I think that, in subtle ways, they contribute to any negative tone people are seeing. They send out a little piece of bait, and pretty soon the sharks are circling.

Maybe we do need clarification on this. Because the one thing that seems obvious is that an etiquette forum should be holding itself to a higher standard. And nothing sucks more than having a thread locked when 90 percent of the participants were enjoying it and contributing.

I'm going to make a greater effort to report the truly egregious comments, but it's the lesser ones from serial antagonists that can be trickier, imo.

Mod involvement in a thread is invariably the result of a violation report. There is a place for comments, although not a drop-down box. A concise description of the problem, with a summary of the thread when necessary, is immensely helpful. There are lots of posters who spend way more time on the forum than any of the mods - also, there are way more of you. The report violation feature is the quickest, most efficient way of notifying us of a problem. And we rarely know about any problems other than the ones reported.

Really? Not all involvement i hope. I mean, you guys read and post just because you like it, too, right? I always figured you guys are part of the community, too, not just overseers or something. Do you get to just surf around and read and post just because you feel like it? [/quote]

I noted a long time ago that the minute I participate in a non-moderated, etiquette related thread, everyone goes quiet. I rarely participate in threads anymore out of courtesy for others having a good time discussing the topic. I do, however, read the Hugs folder to keep track of what's happening to people, techno-etiquette is a favorite folder, the ghost story thread is a favorite, I check in on the meet and greet folder occasionally (Is everyone having fun in there?). I usually wander around the forum peeking in on interesting discussions.

Cass had a death in the family earlier that day. I was traveling all day and was unavailable. Other mods were also tied up. She took care of the problem as best she could given the circumstances. Personally I would have selfishly ignored Ehell altogether to grieve and let the reports go unanswered. Come to think of it, I did exactly that while I sat during a deathwatch recently which would have earned me scorn for "ignoring the problem" or "playing favorites" when I didn't jump at someone's beck and call to answer their report. Cass, on the other hand, tried to keep up with the reports and understandably didn't quite get it right.

Quote

It seems to me that with the new warning systems being rolled out, it would have been better if someone had reported some of the earlier posts that started the heated trend.

Look at it from our perspective. A Report gets logged into the moderation line up. It's the first (and often only) report for that thread. A mod reads the offending post and it sure looks snippy. With no other prior reports, the assumption is often that this reported post was the one that started it all. Moderator takes action to snuff out the fire he/she sees only to have people gripe that it was the wrong person.

What I'll sometimes do is report a post and in the comment box write something along the lines of, "I'm using this one post as an example, but I feel the entire thread has gone downhill." Precisely in order to not call out a specific poster, but a trend.